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Tom Vansant
Rev.
Tom Vansant was appointed to Dale Street Methodist Church in June 2004 and to a
joint charge of
St.
Luke UMC and Dale Street UMC in June 2005.
Tom oversaw the difficult
transitional time of merging the two churches and the subsequent closing of the
St. Luke building. One of the
reasons that the merger went so
smoothly was due to Tom’s leadership.
Tom attended high school in
Kansas City
,
Missouri
and attended the
University
of
Missouri
—Rolla for three years, seeking a
degree in Civil Engineering. He
ended up at
Southwest
Missouri
State
University
, (now
Missouri
State
University
), graduating in 1982 with a BS in Economics.
In 1985 he enrolled in
Perkins
School
of Theology but completed his studies at
St. Paul
’s
School
of
Theology
in 1989, obtaining a Masters of
Divinity, with an emphasis in Youth Ministry.
While going to school, from 1978 to 1989, Tom also was a commissioned officer in
the US Army Reserves, work with the Office of Creative Ministries as workcamp
coordinator, was a peer minister at the University of Rolla Wesley Foundation
and a part time youth pastor at Central United Methodist Church in Kansas City.
In 1989, Tom was ordained a Deacon in the United Methodist Church and was
appointed Associate Pastor at Ashland UMC in St. Joseph, MO.
In 1991, he was ordained Elder and appointed Campus Minister to the
Wesley Foundation at
Central
Missouri
State
in Warrensburg. In 1995, he
was appointed Associate Pastor to Wesley United Methodist Church in Springfield,
MO. Tom served at Wesley until
receiving the appointment to
Dale Street
in 2004.
Tom and his wife, Suzy, have 6 children: Lainie
(a sophomore at Drury), Robbie (a Senior at
Central
High School
. Robbie runs the projection
system during worship.), Daniel (9th Grade), Nellie (5th
Grade), Stella (1st Grade) and Gigi (4 years old).
The household also includes various numbers of dogs, cats, and birds.
Norma Villagrana
In
June 2005, Norma Villagrana was appointed Lay Missioner to both St. Luke UMC and Dale
Street UMC.Norma acted as liturgist during Sunday morning worship at the two
churches, occasionally preached at both churches and did visitation for both
churches. In June 2007, Norma’s
title changed to Associate Pastor, but her job description remained the same
except that now she ministers to the merged Pathways congregation. She also
write a one-page devotional which is mailed weekly to those members of Pathways
who are unable to attend church on a regular basis.
Many
people at both St. Luke and Dale Street knew Norma even before her appointment.
She is married to Hugo Villagrana, the director of the Hispanic Ministry,
La Trinidad, which operated out of St. Luke UMC and now out of Pathways.
Norma has helped in that ministry since she and Hugo moved to the United
States in October 2002. They have
two children, Mariana, 10, and Luis, 7.
Norma’s
degree from the University of Mexico is the equivalent of having a law degree.
She was a teacher in her native country and has been a volunteer at
McGregor Elementary School, helping Spanish-speaking students learn English.
She has also held Spanish classes at church for people interested in
learning to speak that language.
Norma
participates in a weekly jail ministry where she visits especially with
incarcerated hispanic women, many of whom speak little or no English.
She is often called by the schools to act as interpreter.
Those in the hispanic community call upon her frequently to take them to
the doctor or elsewhere and to act as interpreter.
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